Visiting a Maori Village at Whakarewarewa, Rotorua

Nie cerita my holiday early this year hahaha I went at the end of Jan - baru sekarang nak update kan ...better late than takde :p

Went to Rotorua on my own - kan I am in my travel alone mode sekarang nie. Lama dah tak buat - last travelling alone sebelum this trip was masa dok jejalan kat Shanghai dulu ..before than my UK trips lah - zaman malas nak gi ngan orang coz kalau gi ngan orang - banyak kerenah and kesonggelan.

Anyway on my last day di Rototua tu aku gi visit Whakarewarewa (pronounced as Faka-Rewa-rewa) - which is a living Maoiri village ..memang ini kawasan perkampungan yang dorang masih diami ...open to public everyday kecuali on Christmas Day .... click here for its website ...entrance fee dalam NZD35, or if you ambik package to include pengangkutan lagi mahal le ..dalam NZD45-60 gitu. I initially nak ambik package ..coz tak tau tempat tu kat mana ..and I am the Queen of convenience kan ..so nak yang senang ajer ..but the owner of the backpacker that I stayed in said takyah ambik package as I can get there using a bus ajer (will explain at the last section in this posting on how to get there) ....and i get a cheaper ticket jugak at the time as I bought my ticket at the tourist info centre yang kebetulan was offering discount to a few places that weekend

It is actually a geothermal village ...kampung tu terletak kat atas kawasan geothermal ..so memang nampak le berasap sana sini ...looks so beautiful jugak ....dia ada tour every hour ..aku sampai ngam ngam tour nak start so I just join in ...but kalau tak nak tour..jalan je lah sendiri ...i ikut tour tu as the guide (dia keturunan ke-5 ke 6 jadi tour guide kat situ) tu akan explain the different parts of the area

sebab dorang ada akses to the geothermal tu kan ...it has been their way of cooking since azali ...takyah guna dapur gas pun ...jagung tu dorang clean ..buang the kulit and drop dalam that kolam air panas ..literally less than 1 minute ..and walla ..siap jagung rebus! that is their communal cooking pool ..usually for vege .....aku beli la jagung tu ...and rasa cam jagung rebus biasa ajer ..aku ingat ade le rasa sulfur ke apa ke hahaha ...ngades lebih

 

yang nie plak dia demo kan cara dorang masak Hangi - a maori food yang dimasak bawah tanah. Kat sini, sebab geothermal, they put the things kat situ ....like beef..lamb..ayam ke apa ke ..and the vege ..and even cake ...and using the steam to cook it ...

 

dia kata now ada foil, org guna foil le ..dulu alas ngan daun ....but this one is a communal one ..and yang dorang guna utk buat demo for tourist ..tapi bila aku jalan jalan aroung kampung tu, memang nampak kat depan each hoouse akan ada their own hangi pit ...kelas gitu ..save duit tak yah pakai gas or dapur electric!

 

 

and this is their communal tempat tanam sayur..and yang macam tempat burung tu kan - that is where they put their extra vege yang dah di harvest!

 

 

and this one is their common pool ...we were told, after 5.00pm selepas the tourist semua takde, pool nie akan digunakan ...usually by orang tua tua ...and air from this pool is said to have that properties yang healing ...utk yang sakit sendi etc ...kata the guide ...aku rendam kaki ajer ...panas gak le ...tapi tak dibenarkan berendam :-)

Pohutu Geyser

 

from this side of the village, boleh nampak the famous Pohutu geyser kat village sebelah (Te Puia) ..kalau ikut sejarah, dulu dorang ni satu kampung ..but the one next door tu dah macam diambik alih oleh corporation and more commercialise ...and so happen the Pohutu Geyser kat belh sana ..but masih boleh nampak from belah sini ..and dia meletup when we were there ... aku nie kan development studies punya org ..choose to go here sebab tau hasil kutipan gooes back to the village and village depa nampak lebih asli :-)
 

 

and daily akan ada show - the cultural show - sekali waktu pagi, and sekali waktu petang. So need to time perfectly jugak le. In my plan, i sepatutnya gi sini the day before - but I missed the bus, so if i gi jugak using the next bus maksudnya akan sampai akhir sket and pasti terlepas cultural show ..so sebab tu tunda le Sunday...pagi2 akak pergi ...

lepas cultural show tu aku stop at its cafe ..nak balik tapi ari ujan ..so better lah carik tempat teduh kannnnnnnn ....here i tried the pie yang dimasak hangi style ....plus another jagung ....

 

dorang banyak ukiran cam nie depan rumah and di area village tu ...aku rasa le utk halau hantu hahahaha aku lupa apa guide tu cakap ..aku pepandai ajer assume kan gitu ...jgn plak korang quote aku!

and last stop at its gift shop ...sembang le ngan minah jaga kedai tu. She told me that memang kampung tu dah lama, and semua rumah tu dihuni. Ada yang kosong pun coz penghuni kerja kat Taupo or outside Rotorua - so weekdays kosong but weekend or masa keramaian akan balik situ ..teringat macam Malaysia plak ....

How to get there by bus ..Naik bus Route 2  and ticket is like NZD2 ajer one way..about 10 mins from CBD ...so cheap compared to kalau nak ambik package shuttle ke apa ke ..kalau ikut pla asal aku tu..so the extra money aritu aku gunakan utk beli souveniour for my dad ...a nice home made Maori carving from the village ...